Two children were killed and two adults critically injured Saturday afternoon when a small plane crashed short of the runway at a northwest Fresno, California, airstrip, according to authorities.

The single-engine Grumman American Aviation AA-5, carrying four people, went down around 1:50 p.m. near Sierra Sky Park, a small residential airpark community, coming to rest on a bluff above the San Joaquin River in the 7300 block of Blythe Avenue, ABC30 Fresno reported. The crash sparked a small fire that was quickly extinguished and knocked out power to roughly 1,700 nearby homes.

The two children were pronounced dead at the scene. The two adults were taken to Community Regional Medical Center in critical condition, according to Hoodline. Their identities and relationship to each other had not been released as of Sunday.

Roughly 20 law enforcement vehicles and 10 fire engines responded to the scene, with water-rescue and urban search-and-rescue crews deployed given the aircraft's location above the riverbank.

"THIS IS A RARE AND TRAGIC SITUATION IN NORTHWEST FRESNO."

"This is a rare and tragic situation in northwest Fresno. My immediate concern is for the survivors," Fresno City Councilmember Mike Karbassi said in a statement.

The cause of the crash has not been determined. The National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration have taken over the investigation, and the Fresno County Sheriff's Office set up a multi-day perimeter around the site to preserve evidence for federal investigators. A preliminary NTSB report on probable cause is typically issued only after a more detailed review process that can take weeks or longer.

The crash is the second general-aviation tragedy to make national headlines this weekend, after Sunday's Amazon cargo jet runway overrun in Miami — a reminder of how quickly a routine flight can turn catastrophic, whether aboard a small private plane or a wide-body cargo jet.

Sierra Sky Park is a fly-in residential community built around a single runway, where many homeowners keep private aircraft in attached hangars — a layout that put the crash site close to occupied homes even though it came down short of the strip itself. Investigators have not yet indicated whether mechanical failure, pilot error, or weather played a role, and officials cautioned that a full accounting will likely take weeks as the NTSB reviews wreckage, maintenance records and any available flight data.